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It is also the base for Aloha Air Cargo, which previously offered both passenger and cargo services under the name Aloha Airlines. This airline ceased passenger flights on March 31, 2008, and sold off its cargo services to Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources, Inc (also owners of inter-island sea-based shipping company Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug & Barge.)

History

HNL opened in March 1927 as John Rodgers Airport, named after World War I naval officer John Rodgers.[8] It was funded by the territorial legislature and the Chamber of Commerce, and was the first full airport in Hawaii: aircraft had previously been limited to small landing strips, fields or seaplane docks. From 1939 to 1943, the adjacent Keehi Lagoon was dredged for use by seaplanes, and the dredged soil was moved to HNL to provide more space for conventional airplanes.

The U.S. military grounded all civil aircraft and took over all civil airports after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Rodgers Field was designated Naval Air Station Honolulu. The Navy built a control tower and terminal building, and some commercial traffic was allowed during daylight hours. Rodgers Field was returned to the Territory of Hawaii in 1946. At the time, at 4,019 acres (16.26 km2), it was one of the largest airports in the United States, with four paved land runways and three seaplane runways.[8]

John Rodgers Airport was renamed Honolulu Airport in 1947; "International" was added to the name in 1951.[8] Being near the center of the Pacific Ocean it was a stop for many transpacific flights. By 1950 it was the third-busiest airport in the United States in terms of aircraft operations, and its 13,097-foot (3,992 m) runway was the longest in the world in 1953.[8] In summer 1959 Qantas began the first jet service to Honolulu on its flights between Australia and California.[9] Aeronautical engineer and airline consultant, Frank Der Yuen, advised in the design of the original building and founded its aerospace museum.[10]

The original terminal building on the southeast side of runways 4 was replaced by the John Rodgers Terminal, which was dedicated on August 22, 1962 and opened on October 14, 1962.[8] From 1970 through 1978, the architect Vladimir Ossipoff designed a terminal modernization project that remodeled this terminal and created several additions,[11][12] which included the Diamond Head Concourse in 1970, the Ewa Concourse in 1972, and the Central Concourse in 1980.[13]

Modernization and history since 2006

On March 24, 2006, Hawaii GovernorLinda Lingle unveiled a $2.3 billion modernization program for Hawaii airports over a 12-year period, with $1.7 billion budgeted for Honolulu International Airport.[20] The plan involves implementing short-term projects within the first five years to improve passenger service and increase security and operational efficiencies.[21]

As part of the modernization, flight display monitors throughout the airport have been upgraded, new food and beverage vendors have been added, and a new parking garage across from the International Arrivals terminal has been completed. Current projects include an international arrivals corridor with moving sidewalks built atop the breezeway leading to the Ewa Concourse. The first phase of the project was completed in October 2009, while the remainder of the two phase project was completed in 2010.[22]

In 2011, Hawaiian Airlines renovated the check-in lobby of the Interisland Terminal, replacing the traditional check-in counters with six circular check-in islands in the middle of the lobbies, which can be used for inter-island, mainland, and international flights. This renovation project was fully funded by Hawaiian Airlines and not a part of the modernization program.[23]

Future projects include construction of a Mauka Concourse branching off the Interisland Terminal, the first concourse expansion at Honolulu International Airport in 15 years. Construction of the concourse will involve replacing the existing Commuter Terminal.[24] This new concourse will be for the exclusive use of Hawaiian Airlines, and will allow it to reduce use of overseas terminal gates for international and US mainland flights. This will mean less walking for passengers who check in, clear security, and use the baggage claim at the inter-island terminal. It will also free up gates in the overseas terminal for use by other airlines. Landside plans include construction of a consolidated rental car facility (CONRAC). A temporary rental car center is currently being built in the overseas parking garage so that the existing rental car facilities can be demolished to make way for the new permanent facility.

During the 2016 legislative session, the Hawaii state legislature passed a resolution requesting the Department of Transportation to rename Honolulu International Airport for the late Senator Daniel Inouye.[27] The new name first appeared in Federal Aviation Administration documentation on April 27, 2017,[28] and the airport was officially renamed in a ceremony at the airport on May 30, 2017.

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is part of a centralized state structure governing all of the airports and seaports of Hawai?i. The official authority of Honolulu International Airport is the Governor of Hawai?i, who appoints the Director of the Hawai?i State Department of Transportation who has jurisdiction over the Hawai?i Airports Administrator.

The Hawai?i Airports Administrator oversees six governing bodies: Airports Operations Office, Airports Planning Office, Engineering Branch, Information Technology Office, Staff Services Office, Visitor Information Program Office. Collectively, the six bodies have authority over the four airport districts in Hawai?i: Hawai?i District, Kaua?i District, Maui District and the principal O?ahu District. Honolulu International Airport is a subordinate of the O?ahu District officials.

Facilities and aircraft

The Reef Runway with Honolulu in the background

The airport has four major runways, which it operates in conjunction with the adjacent Hickam Air Force Base.[29] The principal runway designated 8R/26L, also known as the Reef Runway, was the world's first major runway constructed entirely offshore. Completed in 1977, the Reef Runway was a designated alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle.

In addition to the four paved runways, Honolulu International Airport has two designated offshore runways designated 8W/26W and 4W/22W for use by seaplanes.

The entire terminal complex features twenty-four-hour medical services, restaurants, shopping centers and a business center with conference rooms for private use. Passengers have the option of using various short-term and long-term parking structures on the grounds of Honolulu International Airport.

For the 12-month period ending January 30, 2014, the airport had 286,897 aircraft operations, an average of 786 per day. Of these movements 53% were scheduled commercial, 25% air taxi, 16% general aviation and 5% military. There are 217 aircraft based at this airport: 51% single-engine, 21% multi-engine, 15% military, 9% helicopter and 3% jet.[30]

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport has three main terminal buildings. A fleet of Chance RT-52 buses provide inter-terminal transportation between the ticket counters of all three terminals and between the concourses in the Inter-island and Main terminals. These buses, known as "Wiki Wiki" buses (from the Hawaiian word for "quick"), are the namesake for the WikiWikiWeb, the first wiki. All gates in the airport are connected post-security.

Overseas Terminal (Gates 6-34)

The Overseas Terminal serves U.S domestic and international destinations. All luggage departing Hawaii for the US mainland, Guam, or international destinations must clear agricultural inspection. Bags to be checked must be scanned at dedicated agriculture inspection stations near the terminal entrance before checking in. Agricultural inspection for carry-on luggage, however, is carried out at the overseas TSA checkpoints. All boarding gates in the Main Overseas Terminal at Honolulu International are common use, shared among all airlines, and may change daily as the need arises. No gates are assigned to any specific airline. The Main Overseas Terminal is divided into three concourses.

Diamond Head Concourse contains gates 6-11

Central Concourse contains gates 14-23

Ewa Concourse contains gates 26-34

Gates 12-13 and 24-25 are part of the main terminal building

Inter-island Terminal (Gates 49-61)

The Inter-island Terminal mainly serves the inter-island and some US mainland flights and departing international flights of Hawaiian Airlines; most of Hawaiian's U.S. Mainland and International departures leave from gates in the overseas terminal. It is designed to handle flights of jet aircraft between the major commercial airports in the Hawaiian Islands. The former Aloha Airlines and Mokulele Airlines Alii Lounge has been converted to a second Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club Lounge near Gate 56.

On the ground level, Hawaiian Airlines uses Baggage Claim B for U.S. Mainland arrivals, and Baggage Claim C is used for inter-island and U.S. Mainland arrivals. International arrivals on Hawaiian Airlines use the International Arrivals Baggage Claim located in the Main Terminal. Mokulele Airlines and Aloha Airlines formerly occupied Baggage Claim C.

Makai Pier contains gates 49-53

Gates 54-61 are part of the main terminal building

Commuter Terminal (Gates 62-80)

The Commuter Terminal serves smaller airlines which operate flights between both the smaller and major commercial airports in the island chain.

Boarding and deplaning is conducted directly on the tarmac, using an auxiliary incline ramp to avoid the air-stairs. Passengers who depart from the commuter terminal bound for another island, and are connecting to a flight bound for the U.S. mainland may not have baggage checked through to their final destination. The bags must be claimed at the next airport and be re-checked after completing pre-departure agriculture inspection formalities.

The commuter terminal is slated for closure and demolition in order to make way for an expansion of the inter-island terminal. Originally, a replacement commuter terminal was planned to be built on the Diamond Head side of the airport. However, since those plans, two of the four airlines occupying the commuter terminal exited the market, and another significantly cut back their service. This reduction in commuter airline service as well as higher than expected project cost led to the cancellation of the project. The state is still figuring out how to accommodate the two remaining commuter airlines once this terminal is demolished.

Fixed-base operators

A number of fixed-base operators are located along Lagoon Drive on the airport's southeastern perimeter. While these focus on general aviation services, there are a few small passenger airline operations that operate from these facilities, rather than from the main terminal complex. Air tour flights typically depart from this area as well.

Traffic and statistics

The largest airline at Honolulu airport is Hawaiian Airlines offering 13,365 seats per day, which represents a 45% market share. The No. 2 and No. 3 carriers are United and Japan Airlines (JAL) with 7.7% and 7.4% market share respectively.

Traffic between Honolulu and the mainland United States is dominated by flights to and from Los Angeles and San Francisco. These two cities, plus Seattle, account for around half of all flights between the mainland and Honolulu. Hawaiian Airlines, with 11 routes, has the highest market share on routes between Honolulu and the continental United States.[38][39]

In October 2009, China-based Hainan Airlines was granted approval for a nonstop flight from Honolulu to Beijing.[41] It would be the first mainland Chinese carrier to serve Hawaii and the airline's second US destination after Seattle. The airline originally planned to launch the service by the summer of 2010,[42] but the route has been further delayed due to visa concerns and landing fees.[43]China Eastern, however, announced that it will begin nonstop flights from Honolulu to Shanghai on August 9, 2011 instead, marking the first ever direct, regularly scheduled service between China and Hawaii.[44] On January 21, 2014, Air China launched the second China-Hawaii route with nonstop flights from Honolulu to Beijing, also the first nonstop route between the 2 cities.[45]

Pan Am Flight 830: a bomb exploded aboard as the aircraft prepared for approach to Honolulu from Tokyo on August 11, 1982. One teenager was killed and 15 others were injured. The aircraft did not disintegrate, and made a safe emergency landing in Honolulu.

Aloha Airlines Flight 243: flying from Hilo to Honolulu International Airport on April 28, 1988, experienced a rapid decompression. An 18-foot-long (5.5 m) section of the fuselage roof and sides were torn from the airplane, due to metal fatigue. Out of the 89 passengers and 6 crew members, the only fatality was a flight attendant blown out of the airplane. Several passengers sustained life-threatening injuries. The aircraft diverted to Kahului Airport.

United Airlines Flight 811: a Boeing 747 carrying 3 flight crew, 15 cabin crew and 337 passengers from Honolulu to Auckland on February 24, 1989, suffered rapid decompression when a cargo door separated from the aircraft after takeoff from the Reef Runway. Nine passengers were swept from the aircraft. The plane returned to Honolulu.

Bojinka plot: a plot discovered by United States and Filipino intelligence authorities after a fire in a Manila apartment, included in its first phase the planned detonation of bombs aboard several flights inbound to, or outbound from, Honolulu on January 21, 1995. The Bojinka plot later developed into the September 11 attacks.

On February 2, 2016, the pilot of a Cessna 337 Skymaster, making a trip to nearby Kalaeloa Airport from Honolulu International Airport, discovered his landing gear would not retract. Spending around 2 hours circling to burn fuel, he made an emergency water landing in Sea Lane 4/22 off of Lagoon Drive. The 68-year-old pilot did not require transportation to the hospital.[61]

The airport has also been featured in several episodes of the Hawaii Five-0 (2010) television series, as well as in the 2006 film, Snakes on a Plane, and the 2014 film Godzilla. The latter was actually only featured in a single exterior shot as all scenes filmed at the "airport" were actually filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia

^ abcde"Honolulu International Airport...Celebrating 80 years"(PDF). Gateway to the Pacific: Honolulu International Airport 80th Anniversary. Hawaii Department of Transportation, Airports Division. 2007. Retrieved 2009. John Rodgers Airport was dedicated March 21, 1927. The field was named in honor of the late Commander John Rodgers, who had been Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor from 1923 and 1925...